Lest We Forget

Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 50 (VRC-50) hauled passengers and cargo all over the Pacific and Indian Oceans during its 24 years of service. With its tiny fleet of aircraft, the Foo Dogs performed unsung yeoman service over vast distances during two major conflicts and numerous international crises.

VRC-50 was established at NAF Atsugi, Japan, on 1 October 1966, from two detachments of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 21 (VR-21, based at NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii). The new squadron's primary mission was the provision of carrier-onboard-delivery (COD) services in the western Pacific, and it operated C-1A Trader and C-2A Greyhound COD transports and CT-39E Sabreliner rapid-response jet transports from its permanent detachment site at NAS Cubi Point in the Philippines.

The squadron moved its main body to NAS North Island, California, in 1971, but consolidated its operations at Cubi Point in 1972 with the renewed intensity of air operations in Vietnam. In 1977, with the demise of VR21, VRC-50 took over operation of VR-21's three C-130F Hercules transports, which it operated until replaced by rotating Naval Air Reserve C-130T detachments in 1993.

VRC-50's operations expanded in the 1980s with the routine deployment of carriers into the Indian Ocean. The squadron operated five US-3A Viking COD aircraft, enabling the detachment at Diego Garcia to reach the North Arabian Sea. The long-range US-3As increased the flexibility of COD operations. During the mid-1980s, VRC-50 also operated a C-2A equipped with an aerial refueling probe to support carrier operations in the Indian Ocean. The C-1As had been retired by 1982.

VRC-50 supported carrier operations during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-91, with a US-3A detachment at Diego Garcia and COD detachments at Bahrain and United Arab Emirates; C-130Fs hauled cargo from Cubi Point to the war zone.

With Cubi Point's closure, VRC-50 moved to Andersen AFB in Guam by 1991, maintaining a C-2A detachment at Atsugi. Soon after, the Navy decided to deploy two C-2As with each deploying carrier rather than maintain forward-deployed COD squadrons. In 1994, the Foo Dogs retired their US-3As and transferred their C-2As to other squadrons. VRC-50 was disestablished at Andersen AFB, Guam, on 7 October 1994.